[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4354 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4354
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a program to
provide payments to producers experiencing certain crop losses as a
result of a disaster.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 10, 2025
Mr. Thompson of California (for himself, Mr. LaMalfa, Mr. Panetta, Mr.
Costa, and Mr. Valadao) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a program to
provide payments to producers experiencing certain crop losses as a
result of a disaster.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Agricultural Emergency Relief Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Average adjusted gross farm income.--The term ``average
adjusted gross farm income'', with respect to a producer, means
the portion of the average adjusted gross income of the
producer that is derived from farming, ranching, or forestry
operations.
(2) Average adjusted gross income.--The term ``average
adjusted gross income'', with respect to a producer, means the
adjusted gross income (as defined in section 62 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986) of the producer, as averaged over the 3
taxable years preceding the most recently completed taxable
year.
(3) Disaster.--
(A) In general.--The term ``disaster'' includes--
(i) a drought;
(ii) a wildfire;
(iii) a hurricane;
(iv) a flood;
(v) a derecho;
(vi) excessive heat;
(vii) excessive moisture;
(viii) a winter storm; and
(ix) a freeze event (including a polar
vortex).
(B) Determination of drought.--For purposes of
subparagraph (A)(i), a county shall be considered to
have experienced a drought if any area within the
county was rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as
experiencing--
(i) a D2-level drought (commonly known as
``severe drought'') for 8 or more consecutive
weeks; or
(ii) a D3-level drought (commonly known as
``extreme drought''), or a higher level of
drought intensity, during the applicable
calendar year.
(4) Federal crop insurance.--The term ``Federal Crop
Insurance'' means any crop insurance program under the Federal
Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.).
(5) Noninsured crop disaster assistance program.--The term
``Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program'' means the
program under section 196 of the Federal Agriculture
Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333).
(6) Producer.--
(A) In general.--The term ``producer'' means an
individual or entity that is eligible to receive
assistance under a disaster assistance program
administered by the Farm Service Agency.
(B) Exclusions.--The term ``producer'' does not
include--
(i) a joint venture; or
(ii) a general partnership.
(7) Qualified loss.--
(A) In general.--The term ``qualified loss'' means
a loss in a crop, trees, bushes, or vines incurred by a
producer as a consequence of a disaster.
(B) Inclusions.--The term ``qualified loss''
includes--
(i) a loss incurred by a producer as a
result of being prevented from planting a crop
due to a disaster;
(ii) a loss in the quality of a crop,
trees, bushes, or vines due to a disaster; and
(iii) a loss in the quality of a crop
(including wine grapes), trees, bushes, or
vines due to smoke exposure from a wildfire.
(8) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Agriculture.
SEC. 3. EMERGENCY RELIEF PROGRAM.
(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a program under
which the Secretary shall provide payments during each crop year to
producers that experienced a qualified loss during the crop year.
(b) Application.--
(1) In general.--To be eligible to receive a payment under
this section for a crop year, a producer shall submit to the
Secretary an application, at such time, in such manner, and
containing such information as the Secretary may require,
including a description of each qualified loss incurred by the
producer during the crop year.
(2) Approval.--The Secretary shall approve an application
submitted by a producer under paragraph (1) if the application
demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary that the
producer has incurred a qualified loss during the applicable
crop year.
(c) Provision of Payments.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall provide to each
producer the application of whom is approved under subsection
(b)(2) a payment for the applicable crop year, in accordance
with subsection (d).
(2) Requirement to purchase insurance.--As a condition of
receiving a payment under this section, a producer shall
purchase, for each of the 2 succeeding crop years--
(A) Federal Crop Insurance, if available; or
(B) if Federal Crop Insurance is not available,
coverage under the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance
Program.
(d) Amount of Payments.--
(1) In general.--Subject to subsection (e), the amount of a
payment provided to a producer under subsection (c)(1) shall be
determined in accordance with--
(A) to the maximum extent practicable, a
calculation based on data relating to the producer for
the applicable crop year that were previously submitted
or known to the Secretary, including--
(i) any indemnity of the producer under
Federal Crop Insurance or payment received by
the producer under the Noninsured Crop Disaster
Assistance Program;
(ii) the level of coverage of the producer
under--
(I) Federal Crop Insurance; or
(II) the Noninsured Crop Disaster
Assistance Program; and
(iii) an appropriate percentage factor, to
be established by the Secretary, subject to the
condition that the factor shall be not more
than 90 percent; or
(B) for a producer that did not purchase coverage
under Federal Crop Insurance or the Noninsured Crop
Disaster Assistance Program, a calculation based on the
revenue of the producer for the applicable crop year,
as described in paragraph (2).
(2) Revenue-based calculation.--
(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
(i) Allowable gross revenue.--The term
``allowable gross revenue'', with respect to a
producer, means the reported revenue of the
operations of the producer during a crop year,
including from--
(I) sales of eligible crops, as
identified by the Secretary; or
(II) sales resulting from value
added in post-production activities.
(ii) Benchmark year.--The term ``benchmark
year'' means a crop year in which a producer
did not experience a qualified loss.
(iii) Disaster year.--The term ``disaster
year'' means a crop year in which a producer
experiences a qualified loss.
(B) Factors for consideration.--Subject to
subparagraph (C), the revenue-based calculation
referred to in paragraph (1)(B) shall take into
account--
(i) the allowable gross revenue of the
applicable producer during a benchmark year;
(ii) the allowable gross revenue of the
applicable producer during the disaster year
for which the payment is provided under this
section;
(iii) the percentage of the allowable gross
revenue described in clause (ii) derived from
sales of specialty crops and high-value crops;
and
(iv) an appropriate percentage factor, to
be established by the Secretary, subject to the
condition that the factor shall be not more
than 70 percent.
(C) Vertical integration for producers of wine
grapes.--For a producer of wine grapes that uses not
less than 75 percent of the grapes to produce wine at a
facility owned by the producer, a payment provided
under this section shall be calculated based on the
market rate for wine grapes at the time of calculation,
in lieu of the revenue of the producer.
(e) Limitations.--For each crop year--
(1) a producer the average adjusted gross farm income of
whom is less than 75 percent may receive payments under this
section in an amount equal to not more than--
(A) $125,000 for the specialty crops and high-value
crops of the producer, as determined by the Secretary;
and
(B) $125,000 for the crops of the producer not
described in subparagraph (A);
(2) a producer the average adjusted gross farm income of
whom is 75 percent or more may receive payments under this
section in an amount equal to not more than--
(A) $900,000 for the specialty crops and high-value
crops of the producer, as determined by the Secretary;
and
(B) $250,000 for the crops of the producer not
described in subparagraph (A); and
(3) the total amount of all payments provided to a producer
under this section shall be not more than, as applicable--
(A) an amount equal to 90 percent of the qualified
losses of the producer during the crop year, including
any assistance provided under--
(i) Federal Crop Insurance; or
(ii) the Noninsured Crop Disaster
Assistance Program; or
(B) an amount equal to 70 percent of the qualified
losses of the producer during the crop year, if the
producer did not--
(i) obtain a policy or plan of insurance
under Federal Crop Insurance for the crops,
trees, bushes, or vines incurring the qualified
losses; or
(ii) file any required paperwork or pay any
service fee under the Noninsured Crop Disaster
Assistance Program by the applicable State
filing deadline for a noninsurable commodity
incurring the qualified losses.
(f) Timing.--The Secretary shall administer the program under this
section simultaneously for--
(1) producers submitting applications using indemnity-based
calculations, as described in subsection (d)(1)(A); and
(2) producers submitting applications using revenue-based
calculations, as described in subsection (d)(1)(B).
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act for each of
fiscal years 2025 through 2030.
(b) Administrative Costs.--Of the amounts made available under
subsection (a) for each fiscal year, the Secretary may use not more
than 1 percent to pay the administrative costs of the Secretary.
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